Whose Door Do Farmers Knock On When The Govt. Supplies Spurious Seeds?  

Surampeta, Vizianagaram district: Vizianagaram has always been a backward district. On the one hand, farmers here are distressed by the fact that there is no rainfall, no support price for their crops and no water to irrigate their fields. They are plagued in addition to all these problems by spurious seeds.

Farmers from Seetanagaram mandal met me today. They were deeply distressed by what the government had done to them—it supplied spurious seeds them. As a result they lost their crops completely and have been pushed into debts. “Even though the seeds supplied by the government were spurious, we have not been given any compensation,“ they lamented.

I felt deeply pained by their condition. The government, it appears, has been rubbing salt into their wounds by supplying such spurious seeds. Instead of supporting the farmer in every possible way, the government has resorted to cheating them in this manner.

Where will the farmer go when the fence starts to eat the crop? Is the TDP government not squarely responsible for the total devastation of crops, the losses suffered by farmers— all on account of the spurious seeds supplied by the government? Is it not the responsibility of the rulers to come to their rescue? It is unfortunate that the Chandrababu government does not have the same concern and love it has for seed companies, when it comes to farmers who are sinking into debts.The farmer is being punished while the rulers take bribes!

Sugarcane farmers invariably tend to suffer when Chandrababu Naidu comes to power. This is precisely what sugarcane farmers of Seetanagaram mandal told me today. For the past three years, the local sugar factory has not been paying them and as a result they have been put to great difficulty. They pointed out that dues relating to last year amounted to Rs.13 crores. They expressed their anguish stating that the government did not take any measures to help the poor farmers. What will those who after defecting to the ruling party, secured ministerial positions in the name of development, say to these farmers? Around the time that my Padayatra was to conclude today, girl students of Janahita DED College met me. They faced many a problem—exams were not being held after the course was completed and scholarships had dried up completely. With even the trickle which is being reimbursed under the fee reimbursement scheme, being very irregular, they did not get their certificates. DSC was not conducted at all, they said, while the government kept holding TETs. “And now, with elections round the corner, the government proposes to hold DSC but only for a third of the vacancies in the state,“ they lamented. If this is the state of affairs what does the future hold for youth without a job or avenue of employment?

I have a question for the chief minister—you had bragged in your manifesto at the time of elections that if elected, your government would supply seeds of high quality. You also promised in your election manifesto that you would bring a separate act related to seeds to protect the interests of farmers. You had promised a crackdown and stern action on those involved in the distribution of spurious seeds. It is now established that your government supplies spurious seeds. On whom will you crack the whip now? Isn’t it unjust to deny farmers compensation for the losses they suffered?